No. 6 Men's Tennis Faces Pair of Road SEC Tests
Thursday, April 1, 2010 | Men's Tennis
The sixth-ranked Florida Gators men's tennis team tackles a pair of Southeastern Conference foes on the road this weekend, facing Vanderbilt on Friday at 4 p.m. Eastern and 10th-ranked Kentucky on Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern.
The Gators (13-2, 5-0 SEC) hold an eight-match winning streak and are one of three teams still unbeaten in SEC play. UF has posted its 5-0 conference record against Western Division teams and now begins five straight games against Eastern Division opponents.
Alexandre Lacroix (Paris, France) and Bob Van Overbeek (Boca Raton, Fla.), last week's SEC Freshman of the Week, are both undefeated in singles play during the SEC schedule with identical 5-0 records.
Lacroix, Antoine Benneteau (Boulogne-Billancourt, France) and Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.) all share the team lead with 12 dual match victories this spring, while Lacroix has a team-high 27 wins overall in 2009-10, including 17 against ranked opponents.
Florida also benefits from two top-50 doubles pairs with Lacroix and Benneteau ranked 12th in the latest poll and Bangoura and Joey Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla.) checking in at No. 49.
This weekend marks the second and third matches in a span of five that feature four top-15 opponents. The Gators kicked off that rough stretch with a 4-3 road win over then-No. 14 Ole Miss last Sunday. Vanderbilt (10-7, 2-4 SEC) is the only non-top-15 team of the five, but appeared in the top 25 in March. Meanwhile, Kentucky (14-6, 4-2 SEC) has been ranked in the top 10 since Feb. 12.
Florida holds a 3-1 road record this spring, including 3-0 in the SEC. Its lone loss as the visitor came at then-No. 6 Baylor in the second match of the spring.
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